Before You Retort...

My domestic help came in on time today morning. He always does. He came as usual, in his brisk way. 

But today, there was something not like him about the way he walked. He seemed to have mellowed down a bit. As he rode in on his motorcycle, it seemed he had been deeply preoccupied or concerned about some problem.

As soon as he got down, he took out his phone and started dialling. This was unusual, for he always greets me when we meet at the gate.

Actually, it turned out he had an argument with his wife that morning.

It had been over a cup of tea. She had served him tea late, as he was getting on to his bike. 

In a fury, he told her to drink it herself, turned and rode away. As he sped away, he stole a glance at her in his rear view mirror. She was standing there, still like a tree, cup in hand, looking after him.

Suddenly remorse struck him like a tennis ball. He imagined of all the chores she performed at home, for him and for the children. He remembered how she had looked after him when he had been ill, how she waited for him to return at night to have food. 

He looked in the mirror again. She was still standing there, cup in hand, even though he couldn't make out her face.

Her stunned, sad figure made him feel bad, really bad. He wanted to stop, turn around, go up to her, and hug her, tell her not to worry.

But there was no time. He had to be on the highway before the mad rush of the machine monsters began. He felt his feelings were being crushed under the giant wheels of the 18 wheeler truck rolling in front of him. 

He resolved to buy her a sari in the evening.

Before that, he needed to make a phone call...

_________________________________________________________________
If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me

How to Land a Plane in Fog

The Challenge

Have you been in a plane that was attempting to land in fog or rain? How nerve racking it is as the aircraft makes each attempt to land, but the pilot is unable to see the runway far enough.

Recently, a friend of mine flew with his family from Imphal (Manipur) to Delhi. Both cities are in India. They were returning from a winter vacation. As you know, winter makes Delhi very foggy and this is not good for landing aircraft. It reduces the visibility to near zero.

When their plane reached Delhi airport, the visibility was 10 metres, not enough to land. They circled the for about an hour, but the fog did not lift. Air traffic control directed them to Jaipur airport, about 45 mins away. It was having a visibility of 300 m.

Unfortunately when the plane reached Jaipur, the visibility there fell---to 10 metres. But the pilot had no option but to land, because fuel was running low. Somehow, they landed, half on the runway and half on the grassy fields. The violent jolt set off the alarm. Oxygen masks came flying down---but only two of them were released---This was a prominent national carrier.

They had a narrow escape.

This set me thinking on an idea for safe landing of airplanes-at reduced costs and especially in poor visibility conditions.

This might sound crazy, but do bear with me. If viable, it could save human lives, time, and precious fuel..

The solution: Use a balloon

We need to go back to the days of balloons and zeppelins. Zeppelins are huge airships that were used before propeller aircraft. They were essentially huge balloons with a metal framework.

Feasibility study

A modern day jet aircraft such as the Boeing 747 is 76 m long and weighs about 100 tonnes. According to the law of buoyancy, we need a balloon that can displace air equal to this weight. Density of air at sea level is 1.225 kg/m3.  So we need an air-filled balloon of volume approximately 81650 cubic metres to carry the weight of the plane, without using the engine.

Conceive a cylindrical balloon of length 76 m and diameter 36 m, attached to the top of the plane. This will be about six times taller (thicker) than the plane (The cabin diameter of a 747 is 6.3 m.). This will be larger than the current largest hot air balloon, the George White Superbike balloon.

Research can find ways to reduce this size.

Deploying the balloon

When the pilot is circling the airport, his speed will be around 380 kmph. As he is ready to land, he inflates the balloon. This should not be difficult as we can redirect the jet exhaust to fill the balloon. The required volume will be more, because density of jet exhaust is only 0.5 kg/m3.

The fully inflated balloon will further reduce the speed of the plane. When the plane is suspended on the balloon, the pilot can guide it to the runway at a very low speed (perhaps less than 60 kmph- he doesn't need to stay afloat using speed).

Eventually, when he is directly above the runway, it is just a matter of touching down vertically, by releasing the air in a controlled manner.

Experiments will have to be done with 747 sized drones to check for any complications involved with huge sized balloons.

The benefits

• Save tonnes of air fuel in circling over airports awaiting the landing signal. 
• Reduce the length of the runway.
• Land aircraft safely on runways with a vicious reputation, such as on mountains etc.

The cons

This makes planes more vulnerable to sabotage. The surveillance systems for the airport and vicinity will need to be fool proof.

What has this got to do with personal development? Perhaps nothing. However, solving humanity's problems is part of the challenges we must meet to develop our potential.

I would invite your feedback on this.
_______________________________________________________________
If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me

Letting Go ...

This video is from the movie "Peaceful Warrior" based on Dan Millman's best selling semi-autobiographical book.

It tries to demonstrate the concept of letting go of the sense of separation.



This is a real life story based on an American gymnast.
_________________________________________________________________
If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me

Surviving Depression

Two frogs fell into a pot of buttermilk. 

One of them despaired, "Oh! We will never be able to get out! The pot is too deep! We are done for!" He gave up all effort, and simply sank down and died.

The other frog thought, "At least I will keep trying. Maybe a way will open up. I might get an opportunity or stroke of luck. I better be prepared."

And so it swam, round and round in circles. It swam till it couldn't move its legs. Slowly the aching legs became still, its eyes closed in exhaustion, and it started sinking.

What was this? It feet went down some, and struck something solid. There they rested.

Opening weary, disbelieving eyes, the frog looked down at the lump of butter on which it was resting.

Its ceaseless struggling had churned the buttermilk into butter!

Muttering a prayer of thanks, the frog mustered its energy, and leaped off from the mass of butter to freedom.

We need to keep making every possible effort, even when the odds stand heavily against us. We need to keep thinking positive. In moments of crisis, our positive thinking habits will lift us out of gloom.

Image credit : wanko, flickr
_________________________________________________________________
 If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me

The Dilemma of Choosing: Prosperity or Peace?

Have you tried the LOA, affirmations, or the Secret to manifest your desires?

I have been a fan of manifesting, LOA and all similar theories. I had some results with writing affirmations the Scott Adams style.

Recently I recalled something that I had read long ago that stated in effect, that chanting can accomplish anything you want. Yes, literally anything.

I did not want to take chant as a short cut to success. It could be a supplement to hard work and I was prepared to work hard.

Wanting to try out this, I looked around for something to chant and came upon Krishna Das's chants. They are very musical, and thus easy to chant for longer duration. This was the reason I went for them.

I found it on Youtube and sang along.

Soon I found myself losing myself in the magnetic rhythm of the chant. I forgot all about why I had started chanting in the first place.

Then I remembered. I needed to manifest my goals.

It was a dilemma. What to choose: the happiness of seeing my desires fulfilled or just forgetting myself in the ineffable bliss of the chant?

I am still looking for the answer. My goals are yet to manifest.

Perhaps it need not be Prosperity or  Peace. It could be Prosperity and Peace.

Here is a sample of the chant I tried. (Note: You are under no obligation to listen to it. I am not propagating anything here.)


_________________________________________________________________
If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me

Why Writers Should Write Stream of Consciousness Everyday

Writing well involves being able to transfer your remarkable thoughts on to the keyboard. Everybody has great thoughts- great novel plots, seeds of e-books,  blog posts and articles coursing through their minds.

Then why doesn’t everybody write a smashing good blog post? Or having written one, why do bloggers trail off into long periods of no writing? Some reasons:

Good writing is the result of deep thinking. It can happen automatically. You may be ruminating on a topic while at your chores. Then voila! Out of the blue a remarkable thought strikes like lightning.

But…

This is where writers are born… or allow themselves to wilt away…

Most people watch that innovative thought for some time, tell themselves they will note it down, and then let it fade away from memory.

However, if you have been writing SOC everyday for 5-15 minutes, you would have been habituated to the process of writing. The act of writing does not scare you anymore. So as soon as a great thought strikes, you will put it down on paper. It also happens that, if you have a habit of daily soc writing, when you sit down to write, you can have great thoughts.

Why don’t we continue to write every day?

If you have tried SOC writing for an extended period, you will have found that many of the days, the writing isn’t anything special. It can be drab, taboo, incoherent babbling. Sometimes it may be devoid of any meaning at all.

Most people get discouraged at this point.

However, we do need to feed great thoughts into our minds along with the SOC writing exercise, and also we need to aim at a goal. Reading good thinkers is an excellent way to raise the quality of thoughts. Slowly, our thoughts will acquire more clarity, until we feel comfortable presenting them to the world.

_________________________________________________________________
If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me

Nihilism, Life, and a Cure for Boredom

Today, I came upon a blogger who seemed to revel in negating life. Yes he was a nihilist, and nihilism, is intrinsically pessimistic.

I agree that life situations are (sometimes) boring. We have to sit in on rainy, gloomy or wintry days, without sunshine, perhaps for weeks at a time.

But isn't the very prospect of sunshine at the end of those days hope-inspiring?

If we were always 'high', if life were one continuous flow of high voltage experiences, how long could we endure it?

Boredom is just one of the wide (infinite?) gamut of mental states the human being experiences. Isn't the never ending thirst for stimulation or excitement, the root of the problem? 

But that is what all of mankind does. 

Isn't that what we all do, when we scamper to the countryside for a weekend getaway, or throng the dance bars to party the night away? 

Nobody really knows what they are searching for, and try to fill up each moment with another (hopefully) 'enjoyable' activity.

That pit never gets filled up. It is like a black hole that sucks in every thing you have. 

We get exhausted.

Is there an alternative?

Yes and no.

You are the alternative.

Listen to what is going on inside you.

     Your actions.

        Your body sensations.

             Your breath.

                 Your thoughts.

In that order of ease.

Actions are the easiest to keep your awareness on. Thoughts change fast and it will take time before we can learn to keep track of them.

If you keep paying attention to these, I can guarantee you will never be bored again.

Watch, and let go. Watch, and let go.

Your life will be a never ending journey of discovering newer and newer knowledge.
____________________________________________________________________________
If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me

15 Sure-fire Techniques to Rise Early

Rising early has a lot of benefits. Besides giving a head start to the day, it lets you enjoy the cool fresh morning air, do exercise/meditation without disturbance, work on your pet projects, spend time with your spouse, reflect on life goals…

Many people find it difficult to rise early. They feel they have not had enough sleep. Part of the reason is that they were not relaxed at the time of sleeping and this condition prevailed throughout the night.

The following tips let you jump out of bed early in the morning, as soon as the alarm goes off:

1. Associate with people who are early risers
2. Schedule an activity that you enjoy, so that you do it as soon as you wake up:
• having tea/coffee, reading a book, jogging in the fresh air, writing,...
3. Have a clear vision of your life goal/goals
4. Have a specific list of tasks to do for the day
5. Roll off the bed as soon as the alarm rings
6. Have a preset routine to follow as soon as you get up:
• Wake up 5 am, brush teeth 5:05, bathe 5:15 …
• Use trial and error to adjust this routine
• If you are not able to keep it, fine. Remember Emily Coue’s affirmation: Day by day...
7. Use a daily diary to mark the times when you went to bed and got up
8. No matter how many times you fail, be patient with yourself. In times of desperation, say to yourself: “Day by day, in every way, I’m getting better and better”*
9. Fix a time for going to bed so you get sufficient sleep.
10. Sleep requirements vary. Find out how much sleep you require to be fully refreshed. A heavy stomach can increase sleep requirement.
11. Avoid stimulating movies, books, discussions etc. before going to bed. These agitate the mind.
12. Before going to bed, soothe your mind by playing calming music or meditating.
13. Before lying down, sitting down and counting breaths from 10 to 1 is an excellent exercise to let go of the day’s frustrations, and to come into this moment. It goes like this: as a breath comes in, say inside: 10 in. As it goes out, say: 10 out. Continue till you reach 1. 10 in, 10 out; 9 in, 9 out; 8 in, 8 out; 7 in, 7 out;…………….1 in, 1 out.
14. As you lie down to sleep, repeat an affirmation to yourself. It can be a better health affirmation: “I am getting healthier/I am healthy.” It can be for wealth “I am getting wealthier/I am wealthy” or any other goal.
15. When you are feeling too uninspired or depressed to get up, do not beat yourself up. Relax under the covers, and say “Day by day, in every way, I’m getting better and better” and “I love myself. I accept myself. I approve of myself as I am now.”

*Note: This affirmation is from Dr. Emily Coue, the 18^th century French physician. He gave these affirmations to his patients to repeat. The healing rate increased dramatically.

_________________________________________________________________ 
If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. 
Do you have a blog or site that requires content? I write targeted articles at moderate rates Contact me.

Never Say Die

Listening to this angelic voice sing, it is hard to believe he lost half his tongue to cancer.


_________________________________________________________________
If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me

Jim Carey's Spiritual Awakening

When celebrities talk, we listen. Here Jim Carey talks about an extraordinary experience that he had that shows the key to solve humanity's problems.


_________________________________________________________________
If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me

Amazing Yogi Sleeps on Fire

_________________________________________________________________
If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me

Can Spoken Words Heal Illness and Give Life?

Have you thought how your words influence the world and the people around you?

Anthony Yahle from Ohio had a chance to experience the power of words spoken with faith through his son.

The morning of August 5, 2013, Anthony had been admitted at the Kettering Medical Center, Ohio for difficulty in breathing. On August 10, he slipped into a comatose state. Soon, vital signs of life disappeared. The doctors declared him clinically dead.

One by one, the medical team left the room, leaving an inconsolable Melissa Yahle who was reeling under the sudden loss of her husband. Anthony’s son Lawrence, two daughters and the family pastor were also in the room.

The nurse disconnected all medical equipment except the heart monitor, the reason for which omission she now says she doesn’t know.

Suddenly, Lawrence Yahle recalls, something within him told him that his father could not die now.

He told his father, "Daddy, you are not going to die. You cannot!”

Immediately afterwards, the family pastor noticed some movement in the heart monitor. Emergency life saving services were rushed in.

Apparently his son’s words entered Anthony’s consciousness and triggered the fight for survival. His pulse rate and pressure soon returned to normal, and he is hale and hearty now.

For the medical records, Anthony had been dead for 45 minutes.

Listen to Lawrence here.

The bible speaks of words of faith that can move mountains and bring people back to life. Other religions echo the same principle.

Your words stem from your thoughts. Keeping our thoughts clean, pure, and energetic, can do a lot towards bringing in positive change, and who knows, sometimes miracles.

This post is a part of Make A Living Writing’s First Friday Link Party for Writers – Back-to-School Edition.
___________________________________________________________________________
If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me

Like Honey Inside a Piece of Rock

Show your love. Don't hide it under a mask like honey inside a piece of rock. 

I hear this message often now. I heard this first from the mystic, Mata Amritanandamayi. Psychology authors also endorse this(James Pennebaker- in his book Opening up- the healing power of expressing emotions, talks of the value of expressing emotions by writing them). 

All my life, I had been growing inside a cocoon, not showing emotions, like the tennis legend Bjorn Borg who wore a steely mask on court, my teenage icon. I too learnt to wear a mask. Even if I felt like crying or laughing or showing anger, I wouldn’t. I might want to, but it was frightening to let go.

I understand most people do the same. There are very few who let go, and be their own selves, though we hear this advice often.

Nobody wants to be thought of as a crank.

This takes a heavy toll on our health—and our relationships. Fathers and sons never get to know each other really well, and to trust each other.

We are mortally afraid of having eye contact with our kith and kin for a longer duration, for fear of showing our inner selves, perhaps.

Marina Abramovic’s example

In this video, you can see artist Marina Abramovic. She talks of her mother who never hugged or kissed her, and never expressed any warm emotions. It was the height of the Nazi invasion of her homeland (then Yugoslavia), and the times were tough. Her mother did it because she did not want to ‘spoil’ her.

Sadly, Marina never got to experience a motherly hug or kiss even though she deeply craved for it all her life.

She grew up to become a pioneering new age artist, breaking down the concepts of traditional art.

Sometimes she ventured near the extremely dangerous. You can see the effects of her sad childhood in her performances. In an effort to transcend human barriers, she once enclosed herself in a burning Star of David, engraved on the ground. By the end of the performance, the intense heat and the noxious fumes from the gasoline rendered her unconscious. She was saved at the last moment by someone in the audience who noticed her lying still.

Now 65 years of age, she visits a relative in Belgrade in the video. In the course of the interview, the relative tells her the reason for her mother’s emotional aloofness and how her life was a sacrifice for her country and people.

Marina is shattered to learn that her mother was, in fact a very emotional person, who had been constrained by her conditioning. She had kept every single paper cutting of Marina’s performances, from the beginning to the day she died.

Unfortunately, Marina would see them only after her mother died. If only she had known, she would have related in a completely different way to her, and it could have prevented so much pain.

Nature resonates with her pain?

The part after 8:50 in the video is specially worth watching.

Marina breaks down at her Mother’s grave, and recites a few lines:

“Dear Mother,

I didn’t understand you as a child;

I didn’t understand you as a student;

I didn’t understand you as an adult;

Until now, in my 66 years of life,

It (your love) starts shining in the full light,

Like the sun that suddenly appears behind grey clouds

After rain”

Let's not hold hidden our feelings for our loved ones. Just as loving thoughtful actions, a smile or a hug can also mean a lot.
______________________________________________________________________________ 

If you like this article, consider sharing it. Email, Twitter, FB, and Google+ links are below. Get targeted content for your blog/site: contact me